The Ultimate Gift
Chapter 1
It was New Year's Eve and Maxie was sitting at home alone watching the ball drop after convincing Ellie to go off and meet Spinelli on the hospital roof. Maxie was sitting there lost in thought when out of nowhere she starts to hear a scratching sound coming from the door.
Maxie turns off the TV and walks to the door to see where the sound is coming from. Maxie opens the door to be met with a dog at her door.
"Uh, I'm sorry. We're fresh out of biscuits. Where's your person?"
Maxie walks out into the hallway and says, "Excuse me! Did somebody lose a puppy?!"
The puppy wanders into Maxie's apartment and jumps on her couch.
Maxie turns around and walks through the doorway and says, "Hello?! Hey, you, with four legs you don't live here. So scoot, all right? Come on. Let's go."
Maxie trips over the rug in the living room and she falls.
"Ohh! Ohh! Ow! Ow. Well, that didn't work out well."
Maxie then gets a sharp pain.
"Oh! That can't be good."
Maxie then gets up and rushes to the hospital. Maxie gets to General Hospital and sees Britt and says, "Oh, Dr. Westbourne, I'm so glad you're still here. I need to talk to you. "
Britt is at the elevator on the phone when she says, "No, I'm sorry. You're gonna have to talk to the desk nurse."
Maxie looks at her and says, "Please, it's an emergency."
Britt says into her cellphone, "Um, another patient of mine came in. Oh, no, no, no. It's fine. I'm just gonna be a couple minutes late.
Britt hangs up the phone and turns to Maxie and says, "Hello? What is it this time, Maxie?"
"I fell, and it hurts. I just need for you to make sure the baby's okay."
Maxie is sitting in the exam room waiting for Britt to return and she looks up at the clock.
Maxie sighs and says, "Midnight. Great. Can't believe I'm spending my New Year's Eve in a hospital."
Britt enters back into the exam room and looks at Maxie with a sad look on her face.
Maxie jumps down off of the exam room table and says, "Dr. Westbourne, I'm so sorry I bothered you. I'm just gonna change, and then I have a dog at home I need to go throw out. I'm sorry. I'm sure you have New Year's plans. Just tell me where to sign, and I will get out of your hair."
"We first need to talk about your condition." Britt says.
"Condition? It was just another false alarm, right?"
"Maxie, I'm very sorry. You've had a miscarriage."
Maxie couldn't believe the words that she was hearing. Dante and Lulu's baby was gone no there had to be some kind of mistake.
"A miscarriage? No, that's impossible. I'm still pregnant. Tell me that I'm still pregnant."
"Maxie, I can't. You lost the baby."
Maxie looks at Britt and says, "I don't understand. It worked. The...embryo implanted, and I was pregnant, and now I'm not? It's just gone?"
"These things sometimes happen. I'm so sorry."
"Don't be sorry for me. It wasn't my baby."
Britt leaves and Maxie gets dressed and sits on the hospital bed devastated by the news that she had just received.
Britt returns after a few minutes. Britt looks at Maxie and says, "Hey. Do you have any questions? "
"Yeah. How did this happen?"
Britt says, "It's actually quite common. I don't mean that to sound insensitive. The unfortunate fact is, many early pregnancies end in miscarriage."
"Is it something that I did?"
"No, no, no. Most likely, the embryo just wasn't viable. It's nature's way of saying it just wasn't meant to be."
"No, it's meant to be. Dante and Lulu are supposed to be parents."
"And I'm sure they will be."
Maxiethen says," Oh, this is all my fault. They told me to rest, and I was, and then this stupid dog showed up. They're never gonna forgive me."
"Maxie, there is nothing to forgive."
"No, you don't understand. They trusted me with their child, and I fell."
"That could've had absolutely nothing to do with the miscarriage."
"Is there any way you can tell that for sure?"
"No. But in my honest opinion, the embryo just wasn't strong enough. And it's better to have this happen early than go through your first trimester."
Maxie walks to the door of the exam room and says, "It would've been better if this hadn't happened at all. How am I supposed to tell them?"
"Do you want me to call Lulu? She might take the news better coming from a doctor."
"I feel like it should come from me."
"Okay. Well, there's no rush. Feel free to stay here as long as you want. "
"No. I need some air... and to find a place to think."
Maxie storms out of the exam room and heads to the elevator.
Maxie walks up to the hospital rooftop and sees Spinelli up there.
Spinelli says, "Ellie? Ellie, at long last. Please disregard the last message I sent! Maxie... what? What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here. What? I'm sorry. This does not compute."
Maxie looks at Spinelli and immediately starts to feel regret.
"Oh I'm so sorry I totally forgot all about your plans."
Spinelli looks at Maxie confused and says, " I...don't recall revealing them to you."
"No, no, you didn't. Ellie told me she was meeting you here. I didn't mean to crash. I'm so sorry."
Spinelli looks around and says, "Well, do you see Ellie anywhere? It's funny. I'm seeing two of most things right now, and I can't even conjure up one of her."
Maxie looks at Spinelli confused.
"She didn't show?"
"No. No, she didn't. A not-so-subtle message that she does not return my affections."
"That doesn't seem right."
"No, it does not, but it's the truth. If she wanted to renew our relationship, she was to meet me here at midnight. It's over. We're over. This news upsets you?"
"No, um... it's not that. I, um... I've messed everything up, and I don't know how to make it right." Maxie says as she starts to cry.
"Perhaps you can start by telling me what happened."
"I am a big fat failure who can't do anything right."
"What?! How can you say that?! You are generously serving as Dante and Lulu's surrogate! I mean, you are literally a vessel of life!"
"No, Spinelli, you don't understand."
"No, I do! I understand perfectly! Look, you're beating yourself up over nothing!"
Maxie looks at him and says, "Nothing?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. These are the hormones talking, okay? They're wreaking havoc on your emotions."
"You're wrong." Maxie says.
"No, no! Look, it's New Year's. Or was. And you're feeling strange, right? Just like on Christmas Eve."
"Spinelli, it's different this time."
"No, no! Maybe different dates maybe, but the physiolo- physiological root of it is the same! It'll get better, okay? God, it has to."
Maxie looks sad and says, "I don't see how it can."
"Well, come on, look around. Who's the failure here? Come on. Let's...evacuate the premises, okay? It is frigid up here... in more ways than one. I will take you anywhere you want. Well, more accurately, I will accompany you, because I am in no way fit to drive."
"Home. I just want to go home."
"Home it is."
"All right, come on Spinelli."
Maxie makes it home with Spinelli to find Dante and Lulu in her apartment.
Lulu sees Maxie and looks relieved.
"Oh, thank God." Lulu says.
Dante then says, "Hey, where you been?"
Maxie looks nervous at Dante and Lulu and says, "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well, we called you a bunch of times, and you weren't answering, so we thought we'd check in." Dante says.
Lulu then says, "We came here, and the door is wide open, the place is empty. What happened?"
"I was, um... sitting here, resting, and I heard a scratch at the door. Turned out it was a dog."
"A dog?" Dante says.
"Oh, my gosh. Olivia had another vision of a dog tonight." Lulu says.
"This ended up being a real one, and, um... I know I was supposed to be keeping my feet up, and I was, but this dog just wouldn't leave, so I got up to tell it to scram, and then it ran in here, and I chased after it. I tripped and fell.
"Oh, my God." Lulu says.
"Um, did you go to the hospital?" Dante says.
"Yeah, I saw Dr. Westbourne."
Lulu then asks, "Is the baby okay? Maxie? Say something. How's the baby?"
Maxie got a worried look on her face and she knew that she couldn't tell them that there was no baby that would totally and completely destroy them.
Spinelli gets up and says, "Wait. The wee one's fine. I ran into Maxie at the hospital, and all is well, and she would have said otherwise if... schnapps? Whoa!"
Spinelli says grabbing his head as he falls down on the couch.
Lulu and Dante both have a wave of relief wash over them.
"Well, thank God." Lulu says.
Dante then says to Lulu, "So we were worried for nothing."
Lulu then looks at Maxie and says, "Just don't scare us like that."
"I'm sorry." Maxie says.
"No, I mean, why didn't you call us? I mean, we're in this together. We would have taken you to the hospital."
"I know Lulu it happened so fast, and I was scared. I didn't think. "
"It's okay. I understand."
"No, you don't understand how badly I feel."
"Look, as long as you and the baby are okay, that is all that matters."
Dante then says, "Yes, I second that. Just promise us that if this sort of thing happens again, you call her first, please?"
"I promise." Maxie says.
Dante then says, "Well Maxie you must be exhausted."
"Yes, we'll get out of your hair." Lulu says.
"Do you want us to take, uh, that?" Dante says pointing at Spinelli.
"No, you can leave that here."
Lulu then says, "Happy New Year Maxie. Happy New Year, Spinelli."
Spinelli says, "For some, not for others."
Dante opens the doors and says, "Alright then."
Happy New Year, guys. Maxie says.
Dante says, "You too."
Lulu places her hand on Maxie stomach and says, "Happy New Year, little one."
Maxie closes the door and says, "What just happened? What the hell just happened?"
"Where's Ellie?" Spinelli says oblivious to what Maxie is talking about. Spinelli gets up and begins searching the apartment for Ellie.
Maxie walks over to the couch and takes a seat while picking up a baby book from the table.
"How am I gonna tell them that there is no you anymore?"
"Ellie's not even here. Probably out carousing. Looking at the stars with someone new, no doubt."
"I'm sorry." Maxie begins to cry.
Spinelli walks over to couch and sits next to Maxie.
"Don't cry. Everything will be okay."
"It can't be Spinelli."
"I promise it will. Have I ever broken a promise to you?"
"No." Maxie says looking at Spinelli.
"Everything's gonna be okay."
Spinelli then leans in to kiss Maxie and she kisses him back. After a few minutes they pull away and Maxie just looks at Spinelli.
Spinelli goes back in to kiss her again but Maxie backs away and says, "No Spinelli I can't do this."
Maxie gets up from the couch and gathers her purse and car keys and says, "I need to get out of here I need some air."
Maxie decides she needs to numb the pain of losing Dante and Lulu's baby. Maxie drives to a bar right outside of Port Charles and she goes inside and goes to the bar and order a drink.
The bartender approaches Maxie at the bar and says, "Hi what can I get for you?"
"Give me the hardest thing that you have and keep them coming."
The bartender looks at Maxie and says, "Sure."
The bartender pours Maxie a drink and she quickly downs the drink as the bartender pours her another.
A guy comes into the bar and sits next to Maxie and says, "Give me the hardest thing you got and keep them coming."
Maxie looks over at the guy and notices that he is very attractive. He has dark black hair, and the most amazing blue eyes she has ever seen and he is very muscular built which tells her that he works out.
Maxie then says, "So what brings you here tonight?"
The guy looks over at Maxie and says, "I haven't exactly had the best year so I figured this was the best place to come and numb the pain. What about you?"
"Well I have once again made a mess out of things and my best friend trusted me to help her out and I have let her down. I just needed to get away to numb the pain."
"My name is Nathan West and you are?"
"Maxie Jones."
Nathan looks at Maxie and says, "Well Maxie here is to us numbing the pain and saying goodbye to 2012."
"I'll drink to that." Maxie said as she downed another shot.
Maxie and Nathan spent 30 minutes talking and comparing everything that went wrong for them in 2012. Nathan had his heart broken too by a women who he was madly in love with so Maxie was happy to sit here and talk to him.
The bartender looks at Nathan and Maxie and says, "Last call, folks."
Nathan looks at Maxie and says, "Can I get you another?"
Maxie smiles and says, "Why the hell not. I want to do anything to just forget this day ever happened."
Nathan then says, "Bartender two more please?"
The bartender pours them two more drinks and they down them.
Nathan then looks at Maxie and then he leans down and kisses her. Maxie gladly kisses back as the kiss starts to deepen.
When the pulls away Nathan says, "Do you want to get out of here?"
Maxie then smiles and says, "Sure let's go."
Nathan grabs Maxie's hand and they leave the bar together.